I read something somewhere that impacted me. The only thing I remember reading was “be transparent with your motivations”. It hit me like a semi truck. Here’s a go at being transparent:
- I want to lose weight so my husband is proud to hold my hand
- I blog to have an outlet to be honest and to have a very high technorati rating
- I want a successful career so I can make a lot of money so Mark can be in full-time ministry
- I worship God because I know He deserves it even when I don’t feel like it
- I tithe because I know my husband will kill me if I don’t
This makes me think about imperfect motivations. If your true motivation to tithe is because you are afraid what will happen if you don’t…then you should recognize that you aren’t tithing with a pure heart and confront it. But you will never get there if you aren’t transparent with your motivations in the first place.
Sometimes God will still use you despite your imperfect motivations….example: I started leading worship in Catalyst because I wanted to spend more time with my husband and to be in a ministry with him.
My heart wasn’t to minister to young people through music…but I ended up doing just that and now my heart is in the right place. I love the kids, I love the music, I love the relationships we have built with our team, and I love what God is doing in their lives – it’s not about Mark and I being able to be on stage together anymore…it’s about true worship coming from a generation of lost and hurting kids.
What is your motivation?
Tags: Church, dieting, Diets, Life, Losing Weight, Love, Motivation, Music, religion, Tithing, Worship
Seeing you and Mark together tells anyone he is and will always be “proud to hold your hand.” You can tell from the puppydog whipped look in his eyes when he is around you.
Takes one to know one;I am familiar with this look having been puppydog whipped for a very long time myself over a wife I am proud to “hold her hand.”
I have been married for twenty three years to my High School Sweetheart. She’s always worried about aging (I’m 45) she’s younger. I love her more than ever, and will hold her hand anywhere, anytime, But… Take it from me Health matters when you get older, not just elderly but older. High blood pressure almost took me at age 38, I was 6′ and 175 at the time but didn’t take care of myself. There is only one thing I love almost more than my wife (I said almost) thats ICE CREAM, Oh what a wonderful word, but watching my kids grow to beautiful women and see them walk down aisle is so much more important. So, stay young, stay healthy and you will stay in love.
Have a great day
thanks for your honesty, judi. we all have hidden and ulterior motives for the things we do, but not all of us are brave enough to share them like you are.
by the way- you are so beautiful and i see how proud mark is to be with you. it is written all over his face!
love you, judi!
thanks for the feedback guys! Just for the record…I think that Mark is very proud to hold my hand…I just feel bad for him when I know I don’t look my best
Judi, you are beautiful!
I was happy for the exact same reasons as you when I got into the music ministry with Brent. That was years ago – now, my heart is in a completely different place. Mush like yours. I am so glad God worked that out in me too.
I have definitely wrestled with my motivations for a lot of things. This is a topic that I believe God is repeatedly challenging me about!
Judi, I love you.
Haha, I love the tithing motivation. I also love that you’re husband is so intense about tithing!
“But you will never get there if you aren’t transparent with your motivations in the first place.” SO TRUE!
@Justin – thanks for commenting! I love when new people contribute to my crazy conversations. Can’t wait to check out your site
Hi Judi, I’m new to your site, and just wanted to say I think it’s really great! I really like the themes you write about and your openness. God bless, Birgit.
@Birgit – thanks for commenting. I hope you continue to join in on the conversation!
Thanks for this touching reminder.
To live our life’s mission we have to be honest with ourselves. We all have blind spots, but over time we can have the scales removed from our eyes, one at a time, through humility. With a clear vision of our life mission and our personal human assets and liabilities we can spread our wings and soar confidently.
Love the transparency – may truth be the clothing in which we hide.
Just wanted to let you know that I’ve been thinking about this post A LOT.
@Mud Puppy…I have been thinking about it too. it’s a topic that seems to linger the more you let yourself be transparent. It’s really freeing though…